I promised to reveal what I think in the previous article

Here are the facts again if you missed the earlier post. The reason I broke this post up into 2 parts is that I want to teach you to think for yourself. Rather than to count on others to get the answer.

The investment – Gold bullion

• The return – 1.5% guaranteed per month for 6 months
• After 6 months – seller buys back at purchase price after 6 months
• Company has be operating for 4 years

Why I think it is a shady investment?

The underlying asset is Gold bullion. Gold bullion does not give you any returns. You only make gains when the gold price goes up i.e. capital gain. So the return of 1.5% has to come from some where since it is apparently guarantee. Will go into this guarantee later. So where is the source of returns? If you can figure this out and it is not convulated, then it has a much higher chance of being a genuine investment or company.

What if you invested in a gold mining company or a company that sold gold? Would you get returns or dividends? Maybe. Why? The dividends come from the profit of their operations. They do not come by sitting on the gold. The reason companies or shares (of public listed companies) gives dividend is generally when the company is sitting on too much cash and they want to return some of the cash back to you.

1.5% per month guaranteed. Assuming the returns are NOT compounded, 1.5% per month equals 18% per annum. Very few types of business have 18% gross profit per year, let alone net profit which they give back to the investors. Businesses that can generate such returns are probably in smaller businesses that are closely held. They are probably working their butts off, say they get 30% gross profit. Why in the world would they give you 18% for doing nothing? They can borrow all the money they want IF they were a genuine business.

On the other hand, for a company that CAN generate 18% per annum net profit and show the banks proof, bankers will be beating a path to their door to LEND them money IF it were a genuine solid business.

After 6 months, the company buys back the gold at purchase price. This sounds like you are LENDING money to the company and they give you gold as a collateral. This ties in with the first 2 points above. Where is the source of return and why would they want to give 18% to you?

In a real business, there is simply no way that happens. And if such business claim to be a new way of doing business, let me say this, there are no new ways of doing business. It still boils down to capital invested, income, expenses and profitability.

Yes, there’s the internet. Yes people sell information products (generally low capital, high profit, not going to share with you), there’s capital intensive business (need large capital, returns are not double digit in many cases) or online start up (high risk, no guarantee, return only when company is sold or turn public).

And don’t fall for crap such as high yield investment program or some who says they skim of the cents off millions of shares or dividend. Computers today make sure every single cent is accounted for.

Original article from Personal Money Tips

We were approached by friends for food and then introduced to gold investment or rather gold trading. I didn’t pay much attention at first but after a listening a bit more, here are the facts below. Instead of me telling you, the reader what to think and belief, why don’t you share with the rest, what you think and why?

Here are the facts, you tell me what is your gut feeling. Is it a scam, a money game or a genuine investment.

• The investment – Gold bullion
• The return – 1.5% guaranteed per month for 6 months
• After 6 months – seller buys back at purchase price after 6 months
• Company has be operating for 4 years

I will reveal more in the next post but tell us what you think. Would you go for such an investment?

Original article from Personal Money Tips

Is debt free living over-rated? Maybe, maybe not. I received an email a few days ago from Jerry King asking me if I would be keen to purchase some cartoons from him on a regular basis. Since I didn’t know who Jerry was, I naturally looked him up on the internet.

I found out that Jerry is a well know cartoonist who has his work syndicated in newspapers, magazines, big companies etc. On his website he says this of himself

Award-winning cartoonist Jerry King is. one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.

His work has appeared in thousands of greeting cards, magazines, casinos,web sites, books, newspapers, newsletters and children’s books. His client list includes Disney, American Greetings, The United States Golf Assoc., and many others.

I’m honored to have someone of his stature contact little ole me. Since I can’t afford his art, (its not that expensive by the way, its just that this blog don’t generate much in the first place) I first asked him for a free cartoon so that at least, I can write an article to promote him a little. The least I can for a fellow entrepreneur, right. Later I asked him a bit more info, sort of like an interview via email. I hope you can learn something from Jerry about venturing into doing what you like and that Jerry benefits from this article as well.

Q. What’s your background before diving into cartoon?

I’ve always drawn cartoons, even as little kid, but I spent a great deal of my youth and young adult as a boxer. But I realized that I was a much better cartoonist than a fighter, so after 8 years a boxer, I retired and focused all my efforts into cartooning.

Q. How did you get started in cartoons?

I got into cartooning by doodling, then my doodles got better and better, then good enough to sell. I was one of the top cartoonists in the world while serving in the army, then I was recognized as the top editorial cartoonist in America while in college, then I was recognized as one of the top professional cartoonists in America by The National Cartoonists Society.

Q. What challenges did you face & how you overcame them?

I overcame challenges by not quitting and always working to get published. I was obsessed with success. All I ever thought about was making money at cartooning. Rejections didn’t bother me, it only made me work harder.

Q. What advice can you give to budding artist starting out?

My advice to young artists is work 12 hour days, never give up and market, market, market yourself! Success won’t just fall in your lap, go get it!

Q. What are you present & future projects?

My goal was to be syndicated in the newspapers, but now the papers are suffering and there’s no money in that, so now I concentrate on the Internet. My goal has always been the same: make money :O)

I would like to point out a few key points here.

1. Jerry switched gear when it became clear that boxing is not working out. He switched gear a second time when newspapers, are suffering and the income stopped.

2. Jerry had a second skill that he polished until he became recognized as a top cartoonist.

3. Rejection did not stopped him, but instead caused him to work harder & smarter.

Lastly, market, market, market! Like I said, I am surprised to get an email from him in the first place. I’m pretty sure it is part of his marketing campaign and he will surely reach people who will pay him for his art. Reaching out sure beats doing nothing.

In case you are keen to know more and would like to use his art in your business, you can find Jerry at his website at www.jerryking.com

Original article from Personal Money Tips

I’m looking to splash some cash! Okay, what I meant is to buy an investment property. I looked at some of the fund returns over 5 years, the better funds gave returns of around 50%, which means an average of 10% per annum or about 8.44% compounded, it seems ok returns for me.

But then, fund returns usually do not equal to investor returns. Fund returns are measured between 2 points in time usually 1 Jan to 31 Dec. If you invested an any other time, them you need to measure your investment to know your returns.

The downturn is what made me look into properties now. If you did your research and found good investment properties, these can pump money regularly and steadily for you. Where as for funds, when down turn hits, the fund reduce in value. The great advantage of funds is the liquidity and ease in which you can buy or sell. With properties, you need to do your homework, which includes hunting the right one, inspecting the property, negotiating the price, renovate and maintain the property. Not to mention about getting bank loans and the such.

After all this hassle, then you need to find tenants. Hopefully tenants that won’t trash your place.

I got this photo from FB which gives you an idea how bad it can get. I cannot imagine how someone can live in a place until it becomes a dump literally. You can see more photo’s like this here. You have been warned.

So while there are advantages to properties, there are quite a fair bit too. It is precisely due to the fact that it takes quite a bit of time that I held off investing in properties. But things changed and it is time to change as well.

At the moment, I have to invest time to look for the right one. Hunting for properties do take time. Wish me luck.

Original article from Personal Money Tips

I read that around 10,000 jobs at Royal Dutch Shell will be slashed amid low oil prices, restructuring plans as well as due to a new Chief Executive. Well stuff like this always happens when a new head is brought in.

My brother who works in Shell will be one of those at risk of being cut. Just sometime ago, I thought he had a great job, well paid and good benefits. I think this comes as no surprise but then, even as a pessimist, to me things have begun to turn around. Perhaps I was wrong. All the cash injection into the world economy might not have been enough.

Still the lesson here great as things are, it is always good to have a plan B. Or a plan C for that matter. The article is here. Develop your skills wherever you work and make those skill portable. If not, then make use of your free time and develop a hobby that can pay.

What about you? Do you have a plan B?

pic credit

Original article from Personal Money Tips

If people tell you to:-

1. Start a blog & make money! 
2. Join this company! It has a great reward scheme!
3. Start a business!
4. Be a business owner!
5. Migrate
6. Be a web 2.0 consultant.

and you can make some money, since it is the in thing, you should ask yourself, “Should I blog? Should I start a business? Be a consultant?”

Why? Did anyone tell you the time it takes to maintain a regular blog? Or the things you need to go through to start a business and keep it profitable? Probably not.

What ever you think is a good idea at the beginning, ask yourself this.

1. Is this something I really want to do?
2. Am I good at it?
3. Would I enjoy it?

If your answer is no or maybe, then probably not a good idea to get started.

Original article from Personal Money Tips

I received a spam email offering web design services. Just for fun, I decided to reply the email and ask how much does it take to set up a blog. I was a bit sneaky and wanted to find out the market rate. Who knows, I might also offer such services. It not like rocket science.

The reply I receive is,”We don’t do blogs. We can help you design your website and add a link to a blog site!” Although this is not really a NO, the person missed an opportunity to make some money. If they did 10 minutes of research, or perhaps get someone else to set up a blog and mark up the fee and quoted me, they could have earned some easy money. After all, I could have been a corporate customer with the means to pay a $1,000 or more to set up a blog.

Yes, opens doors of opportunity. No, opens the doors of opportunity to your competitor!

Original article from Personal Money Tips

How to you create a cash machine either as side income or to be a main income? I can share with you a bit more in this article. As I write this, the biggest news is Michael Jackson’s death. Just in my last article title Rich and Stupid, there is a large picture of Neverland and I wrote about stars and super stars who are less than stellar when in comes to managing their money. I always maintain that it is not how much you make but how much you keep. Well, for MJ or others alike, it is not easy to hold onto money once they’ve made it. The saving grace for MJ is half the rights he hold on the Beetles’ song which are worth a ton of money. Besides that, I quite sure his family or executor or whoever will think of a way to build a lasting legacy aka like what Graceland did for Elvis.

This brings me to the topic at hand

on creating a cash machine for yourself. For people like singers and entertainers, they, their name, the songs they write and sing, become “software” or intellectual property that is worth money. And the great thing about such intellectual property is that once it is created, it keeps on generating money over a long period of time. Another example at the moment is the Transformer movie franchise. It is going great guns with T-shirts, drinking bottles, toys, pencil holders, you name it, you have it with images of Transformers in all shape and sizes. Then there is the evergreen Star Wars franchise. Even more amazing. I wanted to create a site with Star Wars theme and everything is create and copyrighted. From the characters, the famous X-Wing, Millenium Falcon, Darth Vader, everything was created out of the mind of someone. But you say, I’m not Michael Jackson, not even close to Spielberg. That’s true but you still can create.

As an example, this site and several others I write on, becomes my intellectual property. Sure it is not even a tiny drop compared to MJ but still it brings in some dough. It is my first blog and not even that focused. And I didn’t have a framework to blog when I first started. Some of my other sites which are more targeted do generate decent money for me. Now, if you are keen to consider starting a side income initially and later turn it into a cash machine, I highly recommend you check out this course. Now the course is not for everyone. If you think you can just sign up for the course and start to make money,  then forget it. It doesn’t work that way. You have to take action and create content either by writing, creating podcast or interviews or video. It take work so forget get rich quick.

If you are prepared to work by work, I mean creating content, and assuming you can connect and build up an audience, then you will earn money. More important than just earning money is to build an asset for yourself over time, that you control.

Original article from Personal Money Tips

I read an article on CNN Money about white collar workers being affected by the downturn. Kevin Rigsby was a former district service manager with Circuit City and when CC closed down, he was out of a job. But Rigsby bought a small mobile franchise that sells power tools to independent repair shops, auto dealerships and industrial manufacturer.

Rigsby says, “Just because you’ve been selling electronics before doesn’t mean you can’t learn to sell something else,”

The point is to re-tool yourself! Although this downturn accelerated the demise of certain jobs, it has been happening for quite some time. Stock brokers, travel agents and real estate are going the way of the dinosaur because they were just middle man in many instances. (Some of the above agents have changed and are doing quite well)

Question : Can you join all the black dots above with just 3 straight lines?

But to change everything at the same time is too expensive, too difficult and the risk of failure is high. To make smaller changes gives you a better chance of success.

I remember my senior who mentioned this. Use the same old idea for new people or use new ideas for old people. So now, let’s say you have

• employed staff, you can change what they do,
• same customers, you can change what you sell them,
• keep your machines, but make something else (sometimes not possible)
• keep your products, but sell them in another industry, another country, another way.

Here is the answer. By the way, there are other solutions to join the 9 dots with just 1 line! Just think out of your box.

Original article from Personal Money Tips

Someone sent me an email a few days ago to check out something called a Quantum Pendant. This person got my email from a directory site and offered me the opportunity to make a few hundred dollars if I have the time and the interest.

The email is quite standard opening, I’ve heard this line used so often and immediately I knew it had something to do with Multi Level Marketing of some sort. And I was right.

So I looked around to find out more about this Quantum Pendant and found the Fusion Excel site which is the company that sells this pendant. What was amazing is that this company managed to get endorsements from many well known athletes. Sure is a way to convince potential buyers. Golfers, body builders etc gave good reviews about getting better distance and strength.

The site claims the pendant produces

scalar energy that helps to enhance the body’s biofield. The Quantum Pendant promotes positive flow of energy and helps to maintain energy balance. It helps to restore energy that has become weak in the body.

The site also claims that the pendant can

• Reduces inflammation
• Promotes unclumping of cells
• Enhances circulation
• Enhances immune and endocrine systems
• Has the ability to destroy viruses and bacteria
• Enhances cellular nutrition and detoxification
• Enhances cellular permeability
• Increases energy
• Helps to protect DNA from damage
• Helps to retard the ageing process
• Helps to fight cancer cells
• Strengthens the body’s biofield preventing electro-magnetic waves from affecting one’s health
• Increases focus and concentration

which I found a bit far fetched. Closer inspection of the patterns reminded me it sure looked a lot like the patterns on a Bio Disc which I wrote about some time ago. A search on scalar energy revealed that this theory borders on pseudoscience.

Anyway, at the moment, there is still not much complaints on the internet about people who bought the Quantum Pendant which (cost a fair bit). I still maintain that if anything is truly effective, the people who first discovered it would patent it, sell the it by the truck load and keep the whole fortune to themselves. Don’t need a network to earn over 80% of the profits unless is it something dubious.

Original article from Personal Money Tips